#medieval representation

[luchael]

“La tua bellezza mi abbaglia”

-“Your beauty dazzles me”✨

[rexanesolo]

Adventures in Clairune is out!

If you want to:

Bully a dragon lord

Flirt with an elf

Trust an assassin

And most importantly romance them!! With perks such as:

he/she/they option for players

6 endings (good and bad for each love interest)

A 1 hour playtime (roughly)

Pretty art style & good music

FREEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!

So go play my first vn! (I was inspired by the arcana and y'all might like this too :3)

[chimeride]

Lernean Crab, the 245th Known One.

[alpaca-clouds]

High Fantasy Conundrums: The Diversity Paradox

I have some thoughts on High Fantasy and the way it currently is shifting in terms of the mainstream depictions. Meaning: No, this is not about books that much. It is more about the big franchises. The stuff with money behind it. Because those have stuff in common right now. I am talking about Dungeons & Dragons, The Witcher, Dragon Age, The Rings of Power and other more budget heavy fantasy.

Many words have been written, said, and screamed into the void of the internet about how these days you will usually see diversity in those. Most notably people that are not white.

And the self-proclaimed "conservatives" (who are actually white supremacists) will cry about how those are "medieval European worlds" and that hence there should not be Black or Asian people run around in them. Ignoring, of course, how there were Black and Asian people running around in medieval Europe.

And there will be leftists, that will defend any decision in this regard, on pure principle.

I will count myself among the second kind no doubt. I think it is good and important to see non-white characters in those big franchises. And frankly, I couldn't give less of a fuck whether or not whatever writer originally wrote a book that stuff was based on did imagine the world to be inhabited by people who did not have cheese-skin. I really don't.

Especially as the entire "realism" and "historically accurate" argument falls apart rather quickly if you consider one very important fact: There were no elves in medieval Europe. There were no dragons in medieval Europe. And there sure as hell was no actual magic in medieval Europe. So... Yeah, somehow I actually do think that Black and Asian characters inhabiting those fantasy worlds is less of an issue, when it comes to stuff being "historically accurate".

And yet...

There is something about this, that still very much irks me. Especially when it comes to some recent franchise stuff, like most of what Wizards of the Coasts did in regards of Dungeons & Dragons 5e in terms of lore - and something I am starting to expect from Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

And that is the lack of any actually non-white cultures within the world - and the lack of worldbuilding in this regard.

See... High Fantasy has generally speaking one big struggle in regards of the worldbuilding. A struggle that can be found in high fantasy world after high fantasy world: For the most part, the cultural worldbuilding is often lacking. While humans are often allowed to have a couple of different cultures, everyone else is usually treated like this: "This is dwarven culture", "this is elven culture", and "this is halfling culture". There is no variation in it. The dwarves in the high north have still the same culture, as the dwarves living in the south of the continent. And while humans do have a bit more in terms of different cultures, it usually also goes in broad strokes. Like: "This is the horse culture, this is the very noble culture, and this is the peasant culture". Am I saying I am blaming Tolkien? Yeah, maybe a bit.

This is one of the reasons I fell so in love with Dungeon Meshi. Because Dungeon Meshi literally is the first time I have seen that someone actually came up with differences between different elven and half-foot cultures and stuff. And I love it.

But Kui is the one writer I can think of, that really did that.

So... Let me talk about DnD, because I know my DnD Lore and I can tell you a bit of why this is bothering me here.

See: Dungeons & Dragons has this whole ass world in the Forgotten Realms as the main setting: Toril. Toril has a variety of continents. Just as you can see:

Now, originally half of those continents did not exist, I might add. Most of them were added during 2e and 3e. Especailly 3e and 3.5e did some worldbuilding in regards of those other continents. Even though, yes, if we are honest those continents are very much: Fantasy Asia, Fantasy North America, Fantasy Middle America, Fantasy Africa, Fantasy Arabia, and Fantasy Australia (about which, I might note, we know next to nothing).

But while 3e and 4e did make some use of those other settings, 5e did something else. 5e very much reverted back to focusing on Faerûn and the Sword Coast once more. But because by the time 5e released it was 2014 in the real world, they knew they could not make Faerûn this super white world. So Faerûn became diverse. There are Black and Asian and Brown people living there now. But... culturally it stay in the "generic fantasy Europe" sphere.

And that is my issue: The lack of different cultures.

I will talk a bit more about the issues with the High Fantasy "Medieval Europe" culture tomorrow, but today let me say this: Even these days, when non-white characters will be included into those fantasy worlds, they still will only be allowed to exist within a supposedly white cultural context. They are not allowed to have a non-white culture.

While this makes some sense in prescribed worlds - so worlds based on books that never had any intent on depicting anything but their "white" pseudo-European culture (like Lord of the Rings and The Wheel of Time with their respective Amazon Prime adaptions), this is less the truth for worlds that are designed around whatever they represent today.

Wizards of the Coast absolutely could put some effort into creating those other continents as good, lived in settings - and allow folks from those other continents who live in Faerûn to bring parts of their own culture with them. They could pay some PoC to actually do that worldbuilding Own Voice style. You know?

And the same is true with Bioware and Dragon Age. While I am by far not as familiar with the worldbuilding of DA, as I am with the worldbuilding of DnD, I am under the impression that there is not a lot going on in terms of non-white cultures from other continents. There are non-white people hanging around in the main plot and what not, but it does not seem as if there is a lot going on in terms of them having cultures of origin. Correct me if I am wrong. Some of those cultures seem to have names, but that is where the worldbuilding ends.

And that... You know, that is an issue. Because diversity, especially ethical diversity, is not just about the skin color. It is about culture. And somehow the culture aspect of it gets ignored a lot. Doesn't it?

[artschoolglasses]

Bear Fresco, Spanish, First Half of 12th Century (possibly 1129-34)

From the Met Museum

[leo-the-owl]

🌷🌷🌷

[knightstones]

Go check out the latest updates on the OFFICIAL KNIGHTSTONES CHANNEL (and make sure to subscribe so you catch updates and episodes as they come out!)

KnightStones: Production Announcement

STARRING:  @adammyers7383 

Jayde Hemming

Sanskriti Dwivedi

Emily Dalton

Celestialrand

Avery Wooden

 TSDtalks  

@fordtato

@JessieGender1 

Additional Voices

Colin O'Donnell

Miranda Ketita 

& More

Art by @unseenhand1997 @hey-itsanny and Nemo_Bush_Statue

Music by Andres [ThatHoboRavioli]

Written by  @adammyers7383  Honey Payla &  @tumblingxelian 

Special Thanks to Evelyn Aurora

Directed by  @adammyers7383  and Honey Payla

[dailytransitiongoal]

transition goal <3

[majouartings]

found some some farcilles in my doodle folder that I still kinda like so here you go 💖 lesbian aragorn and arwen you will always be famous

[ariel-seagull-wings]

MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE ROMANI DRESS CODES IN OLDER ARTWORKS

@the-blue-fairie @the-blue-fairie @mask131 @princesssarisa @professorlehnsherr-almashy

"A basic gown with some gathering or pleating around the neck to make it fit. It may have a keyhole neckline opening for breastfeeding of young. This would have been worn over a undergown or chemise of basically the same construction. (See layout and cutting diagram below.) A drape is worn over one shoulder. This is sometimes of a striped fabric, and could be used to carry children or objects. The outfit was completed with a turban of cloth."

Full Bust

Waist

Hip

Arm Length from top of Shoulder

Hand width + 2"

Upper Arm

Length from shoulder to floor

Shoulder width.

[lady-phasma]

Diversity in fantasy aesthetics

Not to get too pedantic, but I'm going to get on my soapbox. I tried to make a moodboard that included medieval/fantasy women's clothing and all of the models were white. So I turned to Midjourney and the results were pretty phenomenal.

If you don't like AI art then keep scrolling or block the tags. I don't use it for financial gain, I use it to make images from my words, and really only for Tumblr.

I'm going to be dropping a ton of them of the rest of the evening. Please save/download/reuse any and all of them. If you want to reblog if you use them that's cool but unnecessary. I want these widely available for whoever wants to use them and may not have access to AI or the ability to use it.

I used the tag "women of color in fantasy" on the full series to make them easier to find.

[swallowtail-ageha]

I actually hate so much the "akshually the she-wolf was probably a prostitute because lupa can mean both!!" crowd when talking about the romolus and remus myth. Yeah. Lupa can mean both everyone who knows basic latin knows it! Aside the fact that "abandoned child survives by getting fed by a female beast" has always been a massive motif in mythology, this interpretation just blatantly ignores the massive amount of roman era depictions of the wolf feeding the twins and reeks of "erm actually the romans didn't know their own mythology and us the 21st century intellectuals know better!" which is! Reay fucking pretentious!!

[an-ruraiocht]

it's funny the misconceptions people get about an academic field from only being exposed to grad students and enthusiasts on tumblr. they'll be like "and of course, [x] is a popular reading" and actually there's been one (1) article published on that reading, ever, and the academic field is divided between people who have never read that article and who would never consider this reading because it would simply not occur to them (80% of the field); people who haven't read it but know of it and are actively opposed to the concept of this reading (10%); people who have read it and are mad about it (5%); people who've read it and think it's valid enough as a reading but don't personally vibe with it (4%); and then the tiny group of people who would actually 100% stand behind that reading (1%). which may or may not include the author of the article in the first place

but the reading is popular on tumblr among a specific subset of people that's 80% amateur enthusiasts and 20% grad students in the direct social circle of the author of that article! and obviously this is an accurate representation of the field 👍

[une-sanz-pluis]

I remember you saying that Margaret of Anjou only gained sympathy from historians in the 20th century, and even during the Tudor dynasty, they were still smearing her.

I have definitely said that, borrowing from a comment made by Katherine J. Lewis on this podcast where she talked about how efforts to canonise Henry VI and cast him as the Tudors' saintly ancestor and benefactor resulted in Margaret needing to be absorb the sins of his regime. Stories like Margaret's involvement in the plot against "Good Duke Humphrey" and her affair with the Duke of Suffolk only emerged in the Tudor era and culminated in Shakespeare's depiction of her in his Wars of the Roses plays (Henry VI, Parts 1, 2 and 3 and Richard III). Shakespeare's version has long shaped the "standard" view of Margaret but the moves to discount his take on the Wars of the Roses have never resulted in a reassessment of Margaret's character. His plays remains the most obvious sources for many of Margaret's "evil deeds" despite no historical precedent for them? For example, Margaret was never at the Battle of Wakefield but she's usually depicted as jubilantly ordering the heaping of indignities on Richard, Duke of York's corpse.

In brief: Margaret has served and still serves as the sin-eater for Henry VI and the Lancastrians (and, by extensions, the Beauforts and Tudors).

[cain-e-brookman]

It's Wednesday, even if I almost forgot, so happy WBW! Where would you most like to live if you were transported into your own setting?

Honestly, no contest, i'd live in Uslaria, where my current WIP takes place! The climate and local flora/fauna are mostly based off of the PNW where I'm from so the weather would be my speed. The part of the country Uthyr lives in is pretty similar in climate to Southern Oregon, more specifically the Rogue Valley, so I think I'd rather go farther north in Uslaria and as close to the coast as possible. If I could pick exactly where, it'd be on the outskirts of Crescaeya in a small little house on a cliff facing the ocean. Besides the weather, the country is very peaceful, is home to many animals both magic and mundane, and for a human kingdom, life is slow and easy. The main downside is that outside of two large cities, there's just not a lot of civilization, and I'm too pretty for manual labor.

Failing that, I'd want to live in the Ixoryn Marshes, which are largely based on the Louisiana swamp lands. (Running joke in canon is that whoever named the Marshes didn't know the difference between a marsh and a swamp. The meta part is that I was that whoever. I came up with the name as a teen, but didn't realize the landscape I envisioned at the time was a swamp not a marsh, and at this point I like the name too much to change it, oops.) Can't take heat or humidity well, but the Marshes are famous for their food and--just like when I visited a friend in Thibodaux last year--I decided I would be willing to live on the sun for easy access to boudin, crawfish, and po boys. I think if you dropped a group of Cajuns into the Marshes they'd invent the best damn cuisine in the world with access to some of the weird magical critters running around in there. The main downside to the Marshes is worshiping Nybiegh, the God of the Silver Moon, is not really an option and there's no less than 15 things in any given square mile of the country that can kill you. I do stay up at night dreaming about the fantasy food that would come out of here though.....imagine.

[dailytransitiongoal]

transition goal <3